Fillable dispensers such as electric kettles are well known. Most kettles have either hinged lids or removable lids. A kettle with a hinged lid must generally be operated with two hands, one hand to hold the handle of the kettle and a second hand to open the lid. It would be advantageous to provide a kettle having a lid that could be opened with one hand rather than two. One way of solving this problem would be to provide a spring-operated lid that is biased into an open position. However, release of a spring-biased lid would cause the lid to open in a rapid and abrupt fashion. This has the potential to eject hot water from the underside of the lid. Steam may condense on the underside of the lid to create droplets of hot water. It will be appreciated that the teachings of the present invention may be applied to a variety of vessels with lids.